Batman Comics

Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Mark Bagley, Rob Hunter, Norm Rapmund
Date: February 2011
My Rating: Supergirl steals the show!

This is the third issue of JLA I’ve read, and I’m really into it! It’s got enough Batman to keep me interested, and I’m slowly getting to know some other characters. This month Supergirl had some awesome dark moments, I wanted to focus on her.

Quick recap – The Crime Syndicate of America (evil Justice League from alternate universe Earth 3), featuring sexy big bads Owlman and Ultraman, showed up searching for a way to stop the evil forces destroying their home universe. Another even bigger bad guy Omega Man also showed up, and so this green chick Jade enclosed the entire city (Washington DC, of course) in a dome. This protected the world against Omega Man, but also means that the JLA and CSA are trapped inside together. They decide to band together to fight Omega Man, but not everyone is on board.

Omega Man brought a lot of bad energy with him, and Supergirl gets to take a walk on the wild side as a result. Here we see her reaction to her new outlook on life:

(click through to see it larger)

I gotta say, if Dick Grayson were all bat-suited up and talking inspirational right in front of me, I might have a similar reaction. Makes a girl glad to believe in alternate universes.

Once Supergirl is pushed to choose a side, she goes where we might not have expected. On the other hand, Ultraman is a pretty intense character, and Supergirl’s looking for someone to go crazy with right now. Who better than Ultraman, with his unlimited powers and complete lack of morals or general human concern? He’s also got quite the body.

And yes, that’s Owlman and Ultrawoman in the middle panel there, along with Donna Troy (apparently a crossover from Star Trek). I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how this plays out in future issues! The last page of this issue has another great image, but I’m not going to share it here. Read it yourself and let me know what you think!

Writer: James Robinson

Artists: Mark Bagley, Rob Hunter, Norm Rapmund

Date: December 2010

My Rating: Sexier Than Expected!

I don’t normally follow JLA, but I heard that #50 was going to have some Very Special Guests that I’ve greatly enjoyed in fanfic, and figured I’d check it out. So I had the guys at The Beguiling add it to my pull file, and boy am I glad. This issue was excellent!

It’s fun but weird to come in to a comic series and have no idea what’s going on. I don’t know all the characters, I don’t know what their powers are. I don’t know who the bad guys are. I watched the first couple seasons of the cartoon show, but things are very different now. And you know, I think that’s okay – it’s nice not to know everything. It’s fun to try to figure out what’s happening and why, and sometimes working for something (in this case, understanding) makes it better when you get there.

Luckily, it isn’t confusing the whole way through – after a couple pages we get into the main part of the story, and the reason why I bought the issue in the first place. The Crime Syndicate of America shows up from alternate universe Earth-3! The CSA is basically an evil Justice League, starring Owlman (Batman), Ultraman (Superman) and Ultrawoman (kind of a weird cross between Wonder Woman and Lois Lane). They’re all kind of psychotic, and needless to say, I love them.

The CSA’s world is being destroyed by a bomb that Lex Luthor from a third other universe created, and they’ve decided to survive by taking over “our” world. That leads to Favourite Moment in the Comic #1. Donna Troy (Wonder Woman’s equally-hot sister) explains the concept of a multiverse, and the example she uses is a switched-gender ‘verse. Here’s Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern in that world:

Favourite Moment #2 is kinda random, so I’m just gonna put it out there. Owlman and UltraWoman (from the Crime Syndicate of America) having sex on a pile of bags of money.  Note the dead henchmen tumbling out of the blown-open safe.

So there you have it! Justice League of America turns out to be a sexier comic than we might otherwise have expected.

I am the night!